I am fortunate to once again be able to attend and present at the NAW/MDM SHIFT conference, and this year it will be interesting to see how the construction and industrial channels continues to evolve.
Modern Distribution Management (MDM) has been hosting this annual event for Distribution Leaders called SHIFT (originally MDM Sales GPS) for the last decade.
At Shift they bring together some of best and brightest distribution leaders to share ideas and proven programs on how to grow sales, expand digital, Ai, and much more.
SHIFT 2025 | The Future of Distribution — May 13-15, 2025
In looking at this year’s agenda it is focused on helping channel leaders- Navigate Distributions Rapid Transformation
Disruption is reshaping distribution—sales, digital, data, and culture are evolving faster than ever. AI is accelerating this shift, and traditional structures are giving way to agile, networked teams.
This year, SHIFT attendees will receive a newly imagined experience. In addition to the mainstage and breakout programming, attendees will now participate in the focused strategy sessions known known as cohorts of choice.
SHIFT this year has 4 tracks to choose from that are designed to help your business in 2025
- Build a stong(er) hybrid sales organization
- Benefit from the ceaseless digital advancements you’re bound to face,
- Build a high-performing team to attract and retain talent, and
- Reinforce your organization by applying data analytics that will clarify and allow you to adjust your KPI’s.
It has been very interesting to see how MDM and NAW have evolved this annual in person event to be more than sales transformation into a business model innovation program. The three-day event covers everything
In my opinion, NAW events are unique for the channel as they bring Building Material, Industrial, Electrical, HVACR, Plumbing, MRO, Jan/San and many more channels (MDM publishes an annual top distributors list for 19 channels today) together in one place.
The MDM Shift program is extensive, so it is not possible to attend every track session as a single attendee, so many companies often sent multiple attendees. As usual the 20 plus speakers and presenters represent top distributors in Industrial, HVACR, Building Materials, Electrical, Security, and many more channels.
It has been very interesting to see how MDM and NAW have evolved this annual in person event to be more than sales transformation into a business model innovation program. The three-day event covers everything
In my opinion, NAW events are unique for the channel as they bring Building Material, Grocery, Industrial, Electrical, HVACR, Plumbing, MRO, Jan/San and many more channels (MDM publishes an annual top distributors list for 19 channels today) together in one place.
MDM this year is highlighting Speaker Spotlights where you can learn more about each session.
SHIFT Speaker Spotlight: Nick Pericle – Modern Distribution Management
Nick is one of the best Ai in Distribution tactician and speaker in the business
SHIFT Speaker Spotlight: Allie Copeland – Modern Distribution Management
Allie from ADI Global one of the top distributors in North America. I can’t wait to hear her wisdom in person
SHIFT Speaker Spotlight: John Gunderson – Modern Distribution Management
P.S. By subscribing to MDM’s daily newsletter you can follow all the Shift Speaker Spotlight articles
The MDM/NAW events are unique and one of the few industry events where an HVACR leader can sit by an Electrical, Plumbing, Industrial, MRO distributor, and so on and have open conversations with each other
My takeaways for the HVACR channel from MDM/NAW Shift past events are as follows-
- Non-HVACR Channels like Electrical, Building Materials, Plumbing, Industrial, etc. are serving similar type customers and there is much to learn as an HVACR Channel leader that the “other channels” are doing that could be applied to your business.
- Digital and Ai are evolving quickly with growing applications for your business. They may not be clear to you yet, but sitting on the sidelines doing nothing is dangerous. If you feel your HVACR channel business will not be greatly affected in the short or long term in my opinion this would be an unwise position.
- Your culture is crucial to understand what new programs and ideas you can bring to your organization that will be successful. Every year I sit at tables where one distributor shares a program that had failed that they launched, and across the table another distributor launched a very similar program that was successful. You must execute on only the best ideas that fit for your business and your culture. As Peter Druker said “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. This probably applies to most distributors business.
As always, we appreciate your feedback, so please feel free to reach out with any comments or questions. If you are interested in attending MDM Shift this year please reach out to us directly as we have a Promo code we can share that makes registering more affordable. jgunderson@channelmkt.com or dgordon@channelmkt.com
